Anyways here are the men whom I believe are contenders for this year's top 10:
Jared Burdick : In my humble opinion Jared is looking at a top 3 finish. He has a PB of 2:20 in the marathon among the other things I stated above.
2015 Cayuga Trails 50 Mile - 2nd place.
2016 Caumsett 50k Championships - 1st place.
(He also states he will not take the wrong turn 1 mile from the finish of Cayuga this year…).
Matt Flaherty - Up next on the list for top 3. He has good speed - going 2:21 in the marathon.
2016 April Lake Sonoma 50 Mile - 2nd place.
2014 Ice Age Trail 50 Mile by four minutes en route to a second-place time of 5:49:13 behind Max King.
2013 Tussey Mountainback 50 Mile - 1st place. He became the USATF 50-Mile Road Champion by winning in a national-class time of 5:28:11 .
2013 JFK - 2nd to Sage Canaday and 3rd in 2014.
Tyler Sigl – He is a 2:17 in the marathon.
2016 April Mad City 50k in 3:09:38 - 2nd place.
2015 Cayuga Trails 50 Mile - 3rd place.
2015 TNFEC Madison 50 Miler - 1st place in just 5:55:40 (the year prior he was 5:27)
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Jorge Maravilla? – He is signed up but it isn’t on his schedule on his website. He dropped out of Transvulcania but came in 2nd at Way Too Cool 50k 2016, 4th at North Face San Fran in 2015 among other solid performances.
(update: Jorge is not racing CT)
Ben Nephew –
2016 April - Breakneck 42k with a time of 5:04:00 - 1st place.
2015 Rock the Ridge 50 Mile - 2nd place.
Technical trails are his forte. He is known for his FKT's (his run through Pemi Loop led Jared and I to vacation in NH and hike that trail).
Zachary Ornelas –
2016 Caumsett he headed into this year's race with the goal to beat the American Record (2:47). A fantastic performance with much determination and drive. He ended up getting 3rd place at Caumsett but it was a remarkable thing to watch someone go so hard for his goal.
2015 March Caumsett 50k - 1st place.
2014 Cayuga Trails 50 Mile- 6th place.
Kyle O’Brien (9:07 steepler) – Ran for Cortland with CFred Joslyn. Now lives in CO and is great at climbing. He was 8th at Pikes Peak Half Marathon Ascent 2013 and 10th at US MTN championships in 2014. Definitely capable of a top 10. Possibly a 50 mile debut.
Iain Ridgeway –
2016 April Rock the Ridge 50 Mile - 1st place.
Silas Carey –
2016 TNFECBear MTN 50k - 2nd place.
2015 Cayuga Trails 50 Mile - 10th place.
Cole Crosby –
2016 April Hyner Trail 50k - 3rd place.
2016 March Caumsett 50k - 7th place.
Worth mentioning:
Avi Bregman -
8:51 steepler but no notable ultras.
Possibly lives in Ann Arbor - not sure?
Possibly could be training with Zach Ornelas and Geoff Burns?
Soooo, he could have a pretty good debut considering his steeple background and potential training partners.
Update 5/16/2016:
-Looks like Jorge will not be running this year.
-The North Face Athlete Dylan Bowman IS in. He is a strong competitor. 3x top 10 finish at WSER, 2014 1st place at TNFECS Bear Mountain 50 Mile and many more notable races.
-Mario Mendoza, last year's winner is coming back! Mario recently dropped out of the Ultra Trail Australia at 69km due to stomach issues but was leading the way earlier in the race. He is definitely someone to watch out for during this race.